CLEVELAND -- Anxious leaders of Cleveland's port signaled formal interest Friday in moving docks and warehouses to East 55th Street, but only if the port can handle its share of the $500 million project.

The port authority board approved a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers that indicates continued interest in building an estimated $300 million dike project in Lake Erie, north of East 55th Street.

The dike would hold more than 15 years of dredged fill from the Cuyahoga River and harbor, which the Corps must keep clear for commercial shipping. The dike project would create 200 acres to serve as a foundation for a new port.

A port move would clear 100 acres west of Cleveland Browns Stadium for a waterfront development that officials say is sorely needed downtown. The proposed move wouldn't start until the early 2020s, under current plans.

The Corps wanted a formal nod from the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority to continue planning the $300 million project. So the port board approved a "letter of interest" at its Friday meeting.

The port would cover about $133 million of the dike's estimated cost. More than half of that amount -- $75 million -- represents the port's 25 percent share of the project. The rest will go for work beyond the scope of the dike's construction, such as fortifying dike walls to handle port operations, officials said.

The port authority would invest another $200 million or so to build docks, warehouses, storage yards, cranes, rail lines and other features of a cutting-edge port.

The big investment concerns board members, especially because it's not clear how the port will cover the costs.

"We don't want to become the Big Dig of Cleveland," said board member Richard Knoth, referring to the multibillion-dollar highway project in Boston that went well beyond budget.

Port staff is exploring a number of funding options.

They will push at the federal level to reduce the port's share of costs on the dike project to 10 percent, from 25 percent.

The port is pursuing federal and state stimulus funds. And it's analyzing how much money it could earn from developing its current site.

The port could also ask voters to increase a countywide tax.

The port board doesn't have to make a final commitment on the dike project until late 2010 or early 2011.

Friday's "letter of interest" says any deal with the Corps would be subject to "an acceptable project scope, an acceptable cost-sharing formula and the Port Authority's ability to finance the same" with other partners.

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